Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Cardiff for his presentation. A number of members of the committee visited the Court of Auditors earlier this year. I thank Mr. Cardiff for hosting us at that time. I know from speaking to my fellow committee members that we all came away with a much greater knowledge and awareness of the work of the Court of Auditors.

On the annual report, it is disappointing to see that there has been a further increase in the error margin. As pointed out by Mr. Cardiff, it has been increasing over recent years. It strikes me that there is a failure, not on the part of the Court of Auditors but in terms of how we use the information it produces. For example, Mr. Cardiff pointed out that there is an over-declaration in claims for land. Surely it is down to the authorities to put in place a process for ensuring the likelihood of over-declaration is reduced. I am sure this also applies in respect of other sectors that are audited. While the information provided by the Court of Auditors is useful, it is only useful if it is used to drive down the error margins in the areas in respect of which we make payments. Why is it that the relevant authorities are not using this information to drive down these error margins? What can be done and what advice is given by the Court of Auditors to the payment authorities to ensure they use these results to the best of their ability in terms of reducing error rates?

I invite Deputy Seán Kyne, followed by Deputy Timmy Dooley, to put their questions before Mr. Cardiff responds to my questions.